Fascism
A form of government that is a type of one-party dictatorship. Fascists are against democracy. They work for a totalitarian one-party state. This aim is to prepare the nation for armed conflict, and to respond to economic difficulties. Fascism puts nation and often race above the individual. It stands for a centralized government headed by a dictator. Historically, fascist governments tend to be autocratic, militaristic, and racist. In the Third Reich, the national socialist party, ethnic German society was pictured as a racially unified hierarchy, the Volksgemeinschaft. Fascism appeared in Italy in the early 1920s and developed fully in the 1930s. Its supporters thought that democracy was weak and full of moral perversions, that multiparty capitalism was too materialistic and unfair to the people. The fascist party in Italy was ruled by a "grand council" from 1922 until the end of World War II. However, in practice it became ruled by the first of the fascist leaders, Benito Mussolini. Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain and Salazar in Portugal took control in the 1930s in their countries. After World War II, fascism continued in the form of military dictatorships in Portugal, Spain, in some parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Fascism was supposed to bring national unity and solidarity instead of the divisions of class struggle and party politics. Believers in democracy generally consider fascism as a facet of totalitarianism. Its urge to control everything and allowing no freedom is one aspect. Another aspect is that it becomes a method for a single person or party to use force to keep power. Fascism versus communism Fascist governments are different from communist ones in that fascists, in theory, support the right of labor representatives and corporate representatives (CEOs, company presidents, etc.) to negotiate - through a system called corporatism. Fascists usually work closely with corporations and economic elites, and use the resources to build up the military and other parts of the fascist state. Fascist states take over schools and other parts of civil society in order to promote nationalism and propaganda. All adults are expected to either join the fascist party or support it as the government. Fascist governments, similar to the Nazis in Germany, pursue racist policies of segregation and/or extermination in opposition to cultural and ethnic pluralism. Communism, on the other hand is viewed as totalitarian in the sense that it calls for complete economic control and ownership of the economy by the people, in common. It is always a big crime in fascist countries to speak against the leader or ruling party. Fascist leaders often give themselves a high military rank, or appear in public in an army or navy uniform, because fascist countries consider the army and warfare the most important part of the struggle for survival. The first fascist government was run by Benito Mussolini in Italy from 1922 until 1943. The governments of Engelbert Dollfuss in Austria and Adolf Hitler in Germany are also iconic examples of fascism. Spain under the rule of Francisco Franco, and Portugal when António de Oliveira Salazar was the head of the government. All of these governments were much like Italian fascism, especially before and during World War II. Fascism is named after the fasces, which is an old Roman name for a group of sticks tied together. It is easy to break one stick in half. It is very hard to break many sticks tied together in half. Fascists think that everyone rigidly following the same leader and nationalist ideas makes the country strong the same way the sticks are. In countries led by fascist governments, the government tries to control all areas of life, including work, school, and family life. Fascist ideas were most common around the time of World War II. Many people were killed by fascist governments because the government did not like them or because they opposed fascism. Even more were killed in wars started by fascist governments. However, the fascist governments of Portugal and Spain did not take part in World War II, and stayed in power until the 1970s. Many scholars consider these governments to have been or evolved into traditionalist and conservative rather than fascist. Fascism, while supporting order and stability as conservatism does, wants to transform society in new ways. After World War II, fascism lost much of its influence, although movements and politicians inspired by fascism have had success in several countries, such as Italy. Category:Cringe